What were you expecting?

A scare

We had a bit of a scare the Thursday afternoon we left for Portland and then Rhode Island. A few weeks before that, John emailed his HR department to find out if RI is one of the states his company has set up payroll taxes for. I didn’t bother emailing mine because I’ve had several conversations with them about moving around, and they had indicated that even if they’re not set up in a particular state, it’s not a big deal to get it done.

So right at the end of the workday that Thursday, John got an email from his boss saying that HR won’t support our move to RI – it’ll cost too much for them to set it up. John swooped into my office to give me the good news (really – he slid in in his socks). If his company says he can’t move where we want to go, then screw the company – he’ll quit. (He’s so excited – he’s been itching for an excuse.) I had been waiting to email HR until we knew exactly where we were going to live because I didn’t think it would be helpful to them to know we were thinking about three or four states – they don’t care until we pick one – but I figured that with John’s news, I should check.

I emailed Jenny, my HR person, and told her that we’re probably moving to RI at the end of August, but we’ll know for sure by the end of next week. Her response only said that RI isn’t on the list of states they allow, so I emailed back “If a state isn’t on the list, does that mean I can’t move there?” and tried to keep the freak-out to a minimum. By the time I sent that email, it was after working hours, so we got in the car (Portland and airport-bound) and started discussing worst case scenarios. I mean, there’s really only one worst case scenario, but what would we do if it happened, if both of our companies said we couldn’t live in RI?

And what does it say about us that our reaction is to quit, since we don’t think they should have any say over where we live?

We spent the car ride making plans. Let’s say my HR says they can’t/won’t set up payroll in RI. First step: appeal to my boss. Can he convince the company to set up payroll in RI if the alternative is I quit? Am I that valuable? Let’s say they still say no. What states are already allowed? None in New England, but New York is on the list. Would we consider New York? Is it worth a year in NY if it keeps my job and gives us both time to find others (so we can move to New England)? Or do we both quit anyway and take our chances on moving and finding work quickly? What about not moving at all? Or what about not signing a lease yet and moving homeless at the end of the month anyway, but when we maybe know more about the situation? We could crash with family if it came down to it.

We had everything mapped out and were starting to feel okay with our plans when we stopped for dinner and before we even ordered I had my answer back from Jenny. To the question “If a state isn’t on the list, does that mean I can’t move there?”, she replied “No, that’s not what it means. Tell me which state you pick. We’ll work it out.”

Big sighs of relief plus a cucumber margarita, and we were able to sleep that night. As well as possible, anyway, in the loud and kind of icky Ramada.